


It Started With A Kiss

by sweetlolixo



Series: Part of Your World [2]
Category: the GazettE
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaids, Aoi is a mermaid, M/M, Reita is his royal advisor, Uruha is a royal prince, and Kai is still a flounder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 16:09:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4883218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetlolixo/pseuds/sweetlolixo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hell yeah, Uruha was gay to the core. Gay as hell to wish to marry a mermaid and still wait for him to return to him one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Started With A Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Fic originally posted onto LiveJournal [here](http://sweetlolixo.livejournal.com/191550.html) on September 27, 2013.

The second time Uruha meets Aoi, it’s a more conventional occurrence, though it  _still_ isn’t exactly what you’d call… normal.  
  
As expected, when Uruha makes his way home and servants are ushering all around him and his mother the queen is descending from the steps and sobbing as she runs to him and everyone cheers and thanks god that their only prince is alive; it takes awhile for things to calm and settle down, because his parents are too thankful to have him back and they throw party after party  _after_  party and the celebrations never end. Uruha’s had to fabricate a story, saying that a kind young man saved him nearby, but he’d never seen him again (he made sure to emphasize this part since his parents were adamant on thanking the man and bestowing him gifts for the rest of his lifetime. Hell, Uruha thinks if it were to be a real person, his parents would build  _even_  a castle for the man.)  
  
Along the many hundred celebrations and parties they’d held in Uruha’s honor, Uruha had spied his mother casually chatting a ton of princesses up, trying to surreptitiously match-make him with a few of them. Of course, they’d been delighted to be even considered as potential spouses for Uruha, but whenever they made their way to him Uruha waved them off by saying he wanted to get another drink or he wasn’t feeling well and wanted some time alone. It wasn’t long before he’d rejected every princess in the region, so much so that dejected princesses begun to form a rumor that he was gay. Hell yeah, Uruha was gay to the core. Gay as hell to wish to marry a mermaid and still wait for him to return to him one day. Gay as hell to tear every once in a while, fingering the scale hanging around his neck, the only remnants of Aoi that he had with him.  
  
Uruha’s wanted to venture on more expeditions after that, wanting to seek Aoi out and hopefully find him, because if Uruha’s seen him once, he’s  _got_  to see him a second time. Plus, didn’t Aoi wail the whole time when Kai was persuading him to just return to his kingdom and never come back? Wasn’t Aoi the one who’d wanted to stay with Uruha and marry him and just… never go? Why the hell was Uruha the one who was missing him to death, then? Why was Uruha the one filled with regrets on his side, wishing he’d never allowed Aoi to leave his sight, wishing he’d never told Kai to bring him away. He misses Aoi’s voice, Aoi’s hair, Aoi’s eyes, Aoi’s tail. The way Aoi flicked his tail as he nervously answered every of Uruha’s questions… the way Aoi clung tightly onto Uruha as if he’d never known anything else. The way Aoi talked so passionately about exploring the world, especially the human world, and how he wanted so badly to be able to go on land and explore the things Uruha had described to him. Uruha wanted to bring Aoi on land, too, and hell, Uruha was so desperate now that he’d even just bring a huge bathtub for Aoi to fit inside if Aoi so wanted to, and he’d ferry Aoi that way all across his own land. He wouldn’t even mind falling asleep next to the mermaid that way at night; he wouldn’t mind anything. He just wanted to see Aoi again.  
  
He’d tried to persuade his mother to let him go to sea again, but his mother never budged. Not even once. His father too, had grown reluctant, and after months of trying to convince them, Uruha had given up, realizing that his parents didn’t trust the sea anymore, didn’t trust allowing their only son to explore a place so deadly and dangerous. Everyone on the ship that had sunk hadn’t made it back, and the town had mourned briefly for the people who had passed on, claiming it was a miracle that Uruha even made it back here. It was God’s doing, they said, praising the prince. God wouldn’t let their only prince drown to his death when he was made for far greater things in life.  
  
Uruha would have believed in that, too,  _if_ he didn’t know better, knowing that the very God in question was Aoi, who had risked his life and safety and energy just to secure Uruha’s life. Oh, and of course little Kai too, that little flounder fish that always tagged along with Aoi wherever he went. How were they doing? Uruha thought bitterly to himself, feeling vastly alone most days he spent in the palace. Maybe Aoi really decided to heed Kai’s advice and become a ruler, after all. Besides, he couldn’t  _just_  whisk Aoi away and marry him here on land. What would happen to his kingdom? What would happen to…  _him_?  
  
Most days, Uruha spent it walking the palace’s dog down the seashore, hoping he would catch a glimpse of Aoi’s tail once more. And even then, even if it weren’t Aoi’s, he might meet another mermaid, and then he’d talk to it and tell whoever it was to call Aoi for him, and then maybe he’d be able to see the beautiful raven again. The mere thought that he may never see Aoi again in his lifetime plagued his mind, every single day, and by the third month, he’d lost so much hope and heart of ever seeing Aoi again that he dragged his best friend out to a corner, his father’s royal advisor’s son (who would also later be his royal advisor when Uruha became King) – Reita – and spilled everything out to him.  
  
“… and that was the tale of how I got rescued by a beautiful mermaid who gave me this scale and wanted to marry me.”  
  
“… You’re kidding, right?”  
  
“Reita! You have to believe me! Look, I even have the scale right here on my neck! I  _really_  met a mermaid!”  
  
“Okay, hypothetically speaking,  _if_  you really did meet him,” Reita tried his best not to just throw his hands up in the air and proclaim the young prince crazy and run off to tell the queen that she better get a doctor to check Uruha before it became a problem; “How are you going to marry him? Jesus Christ, you know he’s a goddamn mermaid right? He can’t live on land.”  
  
“Uh,  _yes_  he can!” Uruha rolled his eyes. “I’ll make him a custom-made bathtub or something. He can live with me. I’ll show him all around our land and I’ll tell him all about the things we humans do. He’s going to be so happy, Reita, you don’t understand – ”  
  
“So, you’re going to make him a bathtub that can be transported  _everywhere_  he goes.”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“You do know he’s going to be half naked, right.”  
  
“I’ll clothe him, for god’s sake!” Uruha groaned. It was  _so_  like Reita to disbelieve such things. His best friend never liked fairytales. “Look, if the bathtub thing doesn’t work, I’m going to carry him around in my arms everywhere I go and I won’t give a flying fuck what people think of me.”  
  
“You seem to have forgotten the fact that your  _mum_  is the Queen, ‘ruha.”  
  
“She’ll love Aoi, I just know it. Aoi’s perfect, and so beautiful, and my mother will fall in love with those scales faster than you can say  _No, I object_ at our wedding, because I know damn well that you will, Reita. Jesus Christ, it’d take you half a lifetime to accept that I’m marrying a mermaid.”  
  
“Uruha, do you even hear yourself right now? I swear, getting overthrown the ship must have screwed with your mind, or something. Months before you would have scoffed with me at the idea of  _mermaids_  existing, and then you’d have happily accepted one of those princesses’ proposal and your wife would be well on her way to having a baby right now. You know your mother’s waiting for you to get married, right?”  
  
“I’m only marrying Aoi!”  
  
“For god’s sake, you gave  _it_  a name!”  
  
“No, Reita! Goddamn, Aoi gave me his name,  _okay_?! I’m not crazy! I met a mermaid and he loves me and we’re going to get married – ”  
  
“Sex! What about sex! Uruha! You’re not going to make mer-babies, are you?”  
  
“Hell, I fucking will make mer-babies if I want to! I’ll create a whole kingdom full of mermaids and  _wait I forgot Aoi’s a male but whatever fuck logic_!”  
  
“Your highness!” A high pitched shrill rang in the air, distracting Uruha and Reita from their little squabble in the palace. Uruha only realizes then that they’re arguing in the middle of nowhere, and several servants have passed by them with confused looks and worried faces. He clears his throat, trying to straighten his body up and looking more presentable as a young, well respectable prince, and looks over to the servant that had called for his attention.  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“We’ve found an unconscious body near the palace, your highness! We’re trying to resuscitate it, but we’re not entirely sure who the person is! It might be one of our people, from the sunken ship months ago, and we would like you to come down and take a look to see if you could recognize them, whoever it is, if it’s not too much of a trouble, your highness!”  
  
Reita flashed Uruha a look, while Uruha nodded, knowing he would have to fulfill what little duty he had as a prince.  
  
“If I can help, that’d be great. Please take me there.”  
  
~  
  
Uruha thinks if he hasn’t choked up all the water he did the last time he was at the shore, he was definitely choking it all up now. Because right before his eyes, lying in one of his servants’ arms, was the unmistakable silhouette of a body of an  _Aoi_ and oh my god, the raven had fucking legs now and  _ohmygodohmygod did this mean that Uruha could finally be with Aoi because he’s found some miraculous way to become human_? Reita doesn’t even need an explanation to realize what’s going on; when he looks to Uruha’s face and sees a look of happiness he hasn’t seen in months ever since the sunken ship, Reita  _knows_  this has to be the mermaid Uruha’s talking about, the one he’s set to marry, the only one he wants to be with. He’s confused, though, he’s wondering why the person in question seems to be… well, human, and has legs, instead of a tail like what mermaids should… have?  
  
“I can’t believe this,” Uruha’s almost teary, rushing up to the servant standing by the sea shore, the waves making quiet crashes in the background. Aoi’s body is limp, unconscious and still, but it doesn’t make Uruha any less happy, because even when he’s silent Aoi’s still so goddamn beautiful and his long dark hair is falling to the side and his face is still unmistakably goddess-like and his skin is pristine, soft and milky, feeling as soft as a baby’s as Uruha retrieves the body from the servant’s arms and cradles Aoi’s body in his own arms instead. The servants have wrapped Aoi’s body in a thin piece of cloth, having found him naked at first, and though Uruha wouldn’t have minded seeing Aoi naked as well (I mean, might as well get it over and done with since Uruha was  _sure_  he was going to bed Aoi eventually anyway) Uruha made sure to clothe Aoi properly, at least giving him some modesty in his unconscious state.  
  
“He’s here,” Uruha’s breathing staggers, his hand reaching up to caress sides of the raven’s cheek in disbelief. “Oh god, oh god, Reita, he’s here. He’s here and he’s so beautiful and I’m going to marry him, Rei. I knew he would come back.” He busies himself with kissing every inch of Aoi’s face, holding him closely to his chest, and as he digs Aoi’s head into his chest, he’s met with utter and complete bliss, his eyes looking to the thighs that extend from Aoi’s hips into legs instead of the tail that should have been there. Uruha misses the tail, sure, and he’s not sure how Aoi became human, but he doesn’t mind it at all. If this meant that he could give Aoi his last name and make him his, Uruha doesn’t mind not seeing the tail no more. He had the scale, anyway, and that was more than enough for him. He’d fallen in love with the person, not the mermaid. And Aoi here, breathing and alive, was more than enough for him.  
  
“He doesn’t look quite… as you described, Uruha,” Reita raises an eyebrow, still completely baffled by the mermaid story and then now the unconscious body, but Uruha’s too happy too care about Reita’s doubts and disbeliefs and he ignores his best friend as he carries Aoi in his arms, striding back up to the castle.  
  
“Will someone call the royal doctor for me? And hurry! If he doesn’t come in time, and my wife isn’t going to be saved, I’m going to be very, very unhappy, you know.”  
  
Reita snorted. Fancy Uruha calling the person his wife already. Seriously, the young prince was going nuts, and he didn’t even realize it.  
  
~  
  
He’s going to be just fine, the doctor had told him, seemingly surprised by how agitated Uruha had been when he’d first led the doctor in, into the young prince’s bedroom,  _too_ , and had seen the unconscious raven haired lying comfortably amidst Uruha’s silky white sheets. Uruha had wanted the raven to have a full body check up, right from head to toe, and after a thorough inspection and a ton of convincing done, the doctor had persuaded Uruha that  _yes_ , Aoi was perfectly fine, and he’d drowned and downed a ton of water into his system, that’s all, and that most of it had already gotten out thanks to his servants’ help, and he needn’t worry; Aoi would come to wake soon enough, and then Uruha could speak to him, and ask him more questions then. Uruha made a mental note to lavish the servants that had helped Aoi with a big feast and many more gifts, finally understanding just how grateful his parents had felt when they’d seen Uruha arrive home in one piece.  
  
Hours pass by and Uruha had declined dinner down at the dining hall in exchange for spending time with Aoi (sleeping, nonetheless), and when his parents had caught wind of  _the young prince spending some time with a raven haired beauty_  they hadn’t bothered to insist on Uruha coming down; they were more than happy Uruha was getting himself involved with a nice young lady, since they really had begun to believe Uruha was turning gay with all the rejection he’s done with the princesses. Uruha would have to disappoint them later with the shocking relevation that Aoi was male, but what the hell. Aoi was beautiful all the same. He’d ordered his servants to grab for his mother’s old clothes, dresses that seemed to sparkle the same shade as Aoi’s tail once had, and they’d clothed Aoi in a similar turquoise shade dress that Uruha had personally chosen, sighing blissfully as he saw Aoi fit into it snugly, the color complementing Aoi’s skin nicely and perfectly.  
  
Aoi’s  _still_  lying on his bed, but it doesn’t matter, because Uruha’s bed is big enough to fit for two, and Uruha’s never allowing Aoi to sleep anywhere else, anyway. He watches Aoi’s chest as it heaves up and down, evidence that Aoi’s alive and breathing, evidence that Aoi’s here and never going. And if Aoi ever dares take a step to the ocean, Uruha will strap him to his bed and never let him go (as scary as that sounds, it sounds more romantic in Uruha’s head, he swears. He’ll pamper Aoi with teddy bears and give him all the food in the world while he’s at it, so he doesn’t look too possessive at the rate he wants to keep Aoi by his side.) He wasn’t going to let Aoi leave him, ever, now that he’s come back. How would he go back to the sea, anyway? He had legs now, and the fact that the doctor had told him Aoi had partially drowned; it meant that Aoi couldn’t survive underwater anymore. He had to stay on land and breathe the same air as Uruha, and then Uruha would take him all over and show him all the things Aoi had always wanted to see. Uruha smiles faintly, fingering the tip of Aoi’s hair gently. He really was so beautiful. He can’t wait for him to wake up and sing to him and cry and wail about wanting to get married and hell, Uruha will have a ring prepared by tomorrow. And he’ll give it to Aoi and tell him there’s no crying no more because they’re going to be wedded and  _yes_ , Uruha will give him all the dinglehoppers in the world that he needs.  
  
And of course, Uruha would make love to Aoi so hard that he’d scream Uruha’s name over and over again until he couldn’t, anymore, and lose his voice and then Uruha would chuckle and hold him tight because Aoi’s  _such_  a virgin and it’s his first time and everything because he was a mermaid and mermaids don’t have sex, right? and Aoi would be shy as ever, curling up to the blond’s chest, begging for Uruha to never leave him and  _then_ …  
  
Uruha doesn’t realize when he’s fallen asleep, but it’s not on the bed; he sits in his chair by the bed, folding his arms as he leans over the mattress, his hand still fisting a palm full of Aoi’s raven hair. They feel so soft in his hold, and Uruha vaguely thinks to himself, he’ll never let go, even as his eyelids close and he transcends slowly into darkness.  
  
~  
  
The moment he wakes up, it feels as if he’s back at shore again. The raven haired beauty in his hazy vision is gazing to him with his mystical gray eyes and a small smile and his hair is falling over his face; Uruha strains his eyes to focus better, admiring the goddess like creature before him, and as he outstretches his hands to reach for the raven’s face, the raven just lets him, this time, not running away like before.  
  
“Aoi…” Uruha’s murmuring, lifting his head up from the bed, and as he straightens his back and cracks a few knuckles (he’d spent a whole night sleeping in a chair, after all), he crawls into his own bed and wraps his arms hurriedly around the raven, only realizing how much smaller in stature the raven was now that he had a full body for Uruha to hug. Uruha gripped the mermaid-turned-human in his hold tightly, then drew back, admiring Aoi’s face as he smiled and laughed quietly in his vision.  
  
“I can’t believe you’re here, you came back for me…” Uruha’s hands running down Aoi’s hair, the blond’s own eyes lighting up, his face brightening in happiness. “And you have legs! You’re human, now, Aoi! Do you know what that means?” Aoi cheerfully nods. “We can get married! I’ll give you everything I own, I promise, we can rule this kingdom as King and Queen, and the people here will love you, I swear, and we can be together, forever, and hell we’d have problem having children but we’ll adopt, anyways, and we’ll have so many kids we’ll regret it, but we’ll be so happy and we’ll never have to leave each other again and  _god_ , isn’t it great, Aoi? I’ll show you around and I’ll tell you so many things about our world and you…”  
  
It doesn’t take long for Uruha to break out of his daydream and realize something’s wrong with the raven.  
  
“Aoi?  
  
Why aren’t you talking?”  
  
~  
  
He  _knew_  something was off. He knew something was wrong the minute he lay eyes on the raven. The mermaid was usually so excited, so enthusiastic, spouting out everything that came to his head the minute it entered it; and here Aoi lay, as soundless as a prey hiding from its predator, and it made  _no_  sense; made no sense why Aoi wasn’t already jumping and screaming Uruha’s name and giggling over in happiness.  
  
“What happened?” The look of bliss on Uruha’s face was quickly replaced by disdain. It seemed to scare Aoi, the raven shrinking back into the corner of the bed timidly, wondering if he did something wrong by not… speaking. “Aoi, you could sing and talk and… you...” Aoi’s face darkened at the mention, and he looked away, looking visibly upset as well. “What happened to your voice, Aoi?”  
  
_I lost it._ Aoi’s mouthing, but the blond can’t get it, and as Uruha’s face morphs into further confusion, the raven sighs deeply and shakes his head.  _I’m sorry_.  
  
“Did you just say you’re sorry?”  _That_  Uruha could get. When Aoi’s head snaps up and excitedly nods, Uruha manages a faint smile and reaches a hand out to caress the raven’s face. “Why are you sorry, silly? I don’t know what happened to you, but… But it doesn’t change how I feel for you, Aoi. I’ve been waiting for you for so long, I’m really happy to see you, now. It doesn’t matter, voice or not. I’m happy.”  
  
Aoi’s eyes seemed to gleam at that. Uruha stifled a laugh; now, without his tail, Uruha realized Aoi’s face was just as expressive as his tail once had been. Looks like Aoi didn’t really need it after all.  
  
“Aoi, do you like the dress I’ve clothed you in?”  
  
Aoi briefly looks down to the turquoise shade dress and his cheeks seem to blush at that; he must have noticed that Uruha tried his best to match him with the color of his tail as much as possible, and he was severely thankful for that fact. He nodded his head hurriedly, smiling widely to the blond. Uruha felt his heart skip a beat at that.  
  
“I don’t know you lost your tail, but I promise to give you many pretty clothes to wear to make up for it, okay?”  
  
Aoi’s excitedly nodding once more, and Uruha smiled uncontrollably at that. The raven looked too happy to be with the blond, just being in the blond’s presence, and he wonders if Aoi had missed Uruha terribly in all the months they’ve been apart from each other, just as much as Uruha had missed him. He probably did.  
  
“Come on, Aoi. I’ll bring you down for some breakfast. I’ll teach you a few more things about the human world.”  
  
~  
  
(Except that Aoi couldn’t really walk on his legs afterall, he wasn’t used to it. He ended up falling all over the place and Uruha had to carry him in his arms down to the dining hall.)  
  
~  
  
“Uruha…” Reita tries to signal to him that he’s crazy, once more, but Uruha’s hearing none of that. Instead, he focuses his gaze on Aoi, who’s currently combing his long raven hair enthusiastically with a  _dinglehopper_ – Aoi had frenziedly mouthed the word, thrilled that he got to meet another one of these things again in the human world – and Uruha’s laughing at him, trying to tell him that it isn’t something you twirl your hair with, it’s something you eat with.  
  
The dining table is awfully quiet, with Reita trying to politely excuse himself before he loses his sanity in front of the clearly inadept-to-the-human-world raven haired (it was the only thing that gave away he was not human and partially convinced Reita that he might, after all,  _really_  be a mermaid) but Uruha pulls Reita back and forces him to stay in his seat, just so he can make friends with Aoi (hopefully), and won’t make Aoi feel so alone in this new world of his.  
  
“Aoi, we have other things to comb our hair with. They’re called combs, and I’ll give you one later, alright?” Uruha teases, looking to the raven with a chuckle, and Aoi nods, still twirling his hair absentmindedly with the piece of fork. “Aoi, if you twirl your hair all day, you’re never going to eat your food, you know.”  
  
_What is this_? Aoi gestures confoundedly to the plate of food before him. There are scrambled eggs, ham and bacon, but Uruha doesn’t quite know how to explain it to Aoi or convince him it’s good to eat.  
  
“If you eat it, you become ten times more beautiful than before,” Reita mutters under his breath, tired of watching Uruha and his awkward romantic advances to the raven, and Aoi’s ears perk up immediately upon hearing Reita’s words, his eyes widening as he looks to the food on the plate in disbelief. He looks to Uruha for a form of reassurance, and when Uruha nods and gives him a lopsided grin, Aoi’s comforted and he digs in, barbarically reaching his hands out to grab at the food, stuffing all of it into his mouth.  
  
Reita almost barfs. Uruha steps on his foot, earning himself a loud yelp from Reita, and Reita doesn’t make a single sound from then on. When Aoi gives Uruha a questioning look to the sound, Uruha forces a smile, gesturing for Aoi to continue eating, and pay no heed to them as he does so.  
  
Aoi seems to close his eyes in pleasure as he swallows the food down; it really tasted as good as it’d looked. Plus, if it could  _really_ make him look ten times more beautiful just like Reita said, then he would eat  _allll_  of it! In no time, his mouth (and hand) is messy with food, and he’s licking his lips like a hungry animal, looking to Uruha happily for more.  
  
“Uruha, I don’t mean to insult anyone when I say this, but he kind of reminds me of our palace’s dog.”  
  
“Reita, you  _do_  realize I can have you beheaded, right?”  
  
“…I apologise.”  
  
~  
  
It takes Uruha a whole afternoon to teach Aoi how to use cutlery (Reita had insisted.) and besides, Uruha was going to have to let his parents meet Aoi eventually. The only proper time to do this would be during dinnertime, and Uruha couldn’t risk Aoi behaving like that before the King and Queen. If he was going to convince them he was marrying Aoi, he’d have to train Aoi to act just like royalty. It’d be difficult enough trying to convince them he would be marrying non-royalty; it’d be worse if they found out Aoi couldn’t behave like a normal person, even.  
  
(And Uruha was not going to explain to them he was a mermaid. Nope never nada zilch. He was not risking the chance of them sending him to a doctor for a mental check-up.)  
  
After Aoi  _finally_ managed to cut a clean slice of ham from his plate with a knife – he’d broken ten plates in the process by accident; Uruha realized Aoi was used to using too much strength, probably from hunting aggressively in the wild too much – Uruha had happily given Aoi a congratulatory kiss on the cheek, and the raven haired had beamed then, feeling thoroughly proud with himself, jumping up to dance around only to remember he still wasn’t used to walking yet. In no time, he was lying on the ground, flopping around helplessly, rolling about and pouting to himself, while Uruha watched in silent laughter, finding the mermaid too cute in his antics. Aoi’s legs clamped together like it was still a tail, and the raven desperately wormed his way on the floor, trying to force himself to get up, but it didn’t seem to work. Uruha shook his head and got off his seat, bending to the ground, helping his raven lover onto his feet once more.  
  
“You’re human now, Aoi, you can’t just flop your way around,” Uruha chuckled, and ruffled Aoi’s hair as he did so. Aoi clung onto the side of his arm tightly, nervously taking baby steps with his feet, and Uruha has to whisper words of encouragement to him every second or so, telling him that it was okay, and that they would take all the time they needed to help Aoi get used to being a human, and even if Aoi couldn’t, Uruha would carry him everywhere he wanted to go. By the tenth step or so walking around the dining hall, Aoi’s confidence slowly increases, and as he tries – for the first time – to walk without clutching onto Uruha (Uruha’s arm was red with nail marks.); he falls again, to the ground, his legs giving way underneath him. Aoi’s almost ripping his hair out with frustration, and Uruha doesn’t think too much of it, but when he lowers himself down, meeting Aoi’s gaze and sees that frustrated look on his face, noticing warm tears gathering around the raven’s eyes; Uruha panics, quickly bringing Aoi into a comforting embrace, soothing his back quickly.  
  
“We’ll take all the time in the world, okay?” Uruha repeats, pressing the raven deeper into his chest. Aoi bawls. “It’s perfectly okay, sweetheart. You’re not used to this, I understand. I’ll help you as much as I can, I promise.”  
  
Aoi noticeably calms down, but his fingers still grip the front of Uruha’s shirt, wiping his tears dramatically against them. Uruha has to stifle his laughter as he sees the princess-like creature before him nod his head, before weakly trying to stand once more, his legs wobbly and out of control. Uruha holds Aoi tightly from then on, and he never lets him go; afraid if he’d allow Aoi to go off on his own, the raven would end up falling again, and Uruha didn’t want to damage Aoi’s self-esteem too much all in one single day.  
  
~  
  
It’s not long before Aoi notices the scale that’s hanging around Uruha’s neck. When they’re both back in Uruha’s bed, and the blond’s cuddling with the smaller raven quietly, his arms wounded tightly around Aoi’s waist; Aoi traces imaginary patterns up Uruha’s chest with his fingers, playing and pinching at the thin shirt material that lay there. Aoi’s fingers circles up to Uruha’s collarbones, then inquisitively tugs at the blond’s necklace, pulling it out from inside his shirt. Aoi’s eyes glimmer as the scale falls out, coming face to face with evidence of his past tail, and he smiles sadly as he fingers it, caressing it gently between his thumb and index finger. Aoi looks longingly to it, and it makes Uruha feel a pang to his heart; Aoi seems to have given up his tail, after all, in exchange for legs, and he wonders if Aoi had done it all just for Uruha, just to stay with him and marry him like this.  
  
“Will you never get your tail back, Aoi?” Uruha quietly murmured in the silence.  
  
Aoi doesn’t reply at first; but then he nods, slowly, once, twice, and Uruha feels his heart twist further.  
  
“Did you give up your tail just for me, Aoi?”  
  
Aoi didn’t hesitate to answer this time. He looked up to Uruha’s eyes, nodding his head vigorously. The raven’s smiling, but Uruha can tell there’s sadness behind his face, and the blond wonders about Kai, wonders about the kingdom, wonders about Aoi’s friends, wonders about Aoi’s people. What would happen to them? Had Aoi dumped everything aside just for the sake of pursuing a human? Did his parents allow it, did his parents know? Uruha wouldn’t be surprised to know if Aoi had ran away silently and turned into a human against his parent’s wishes; he wondered if Kai had aided Aoi, too. The last time he’d seen Kai, he hadn’t been too friendly. Still, Uruha knew the fish cared deeply for the mermaid, and he wondered how he was doing now.  
  
Aoi had given up everything he had for Uruha, and all these while, Uruha had been selfishly wishing for Aoi to come to him... Uruha hadn’t even thought of sacrificing anything to be with Aoi; Uruha  _couldn’t_ , even if you asked him to. It startled him just how much Aoi seemed to love him, even as much as Uruha had seemed to pain over the past three months or so. Aoi  _really_  loved him. Unconditionally, thoroughly, loved him. Aoi had given up everything just to be with the blond, and Uruha made a mental note to never let Aoi down because of that.  
  
“I promise you won’t regret this decision, Aoi,” Uruha kissed the top of Aoi’s head, holding him close to him. “I’ll make sure I’ll protect and love you for life.”  
  
Aoi seemed to smile at that. He fell asleep against Uruha’s chest promptly, and as Uruha lay down and tucked him into bed, he made sure to never let Aoi go.  
  
~  
  
The next morning, when Aoi successfully finishes his plate of breakfast with proper cutlery, Reita raises an eyebrow, commending the blond prince silently. Uruha shoots a prideful look to Reita, sniggering happily to himself, that  _yes_ , Aoi can be a normal human too, and  _yes_ , Aoi will not get into trouble every morning – but then Aoi seems mildly distracted by a passing servant making her way to the kitchen and in a second, Aoi’s jumped up on his feet, bouncing off after the servant. Reita sends Uruha a look, saying  _you better get him before he crashes into something –_ and then a loud crash resounds around the room, and Reita shrugs and feeds himself a slice of bacon –  _told you._  
  
Uruha hurries after Aoi into the kitchen, and he finally realizes why the raven’s so anxious to get to the servant. Because in the servant’s hand is a plastic bag full of water, trapping fishes that they’d just caught from the nearby waters, and in it lay... a particular-looking Flounder fish that Uruha knew wasn’t like the others. Kai’s folding his fins across his chest, looking angrily up to Uruha from within the plastic bag, and the blond prince knows he has to do something soon – though Aoi, lying squirming on the kitchen floor (he fell. again.) seemed to be his main priority first. He helped Aoi up, seating him atop the kitchen counter, and as the servants around him tried to usher the prince out – “no prince is fit to be in the confines of a dirty kitchen!” – Uruha tells them he wants a clean glass bowl, filled with sea water, and some fish food to go with it if they had some,  _thanks_. Aoi watches him as Uruha arranges for Kai to be transferred to the glass bowl, and it takes a while, but with many servants rushing back and forth to administer to the young prince’s requests, Aoi’s fish bowl for Kai is done, and in no time Aoi’s skipping his way happily out of the kitchen, clutching the bowl containing Kai in his hands.  
  
When they return to the dining table, Reita’s almost finished with his breakfast, wiping his mouth neatly with his napkin. Uruha pulls the chair out for Aoi to sit, and Aoi sits gracefully down, gleefully poking at the fish bowl every now and then. When Reita lays his eyes upon the fish bowl with the Flounder swimming around grumpily in it, he’s struck with confusion, looking to Uruha for an explanation.  
  
“Okay, Reita, you’re not going to believe this, but  _this_ … is a talking fish.”  
  
…Reita really needs to get Uruha to a doctor. Asap.  
  
~  
  
“ _Aoi!_ I am telling you for the hundredth time, return home!”  
  
It’s been three hours and Kai’s been yelling non-stop since Reita left the table and Uruha brought them back to his room. Aoi sits on Uruha’s bed once more, forlorn, staring to the glass bowl upset. Uruha snakes an arm around the raven, pulling him close, protectively hugging him to his side.  
  
“Do you know how long it took me to get into the palace?! I had to jump everywhere in the water just to catch the servants’ attention, and even then, they didn’t seem to want to catch a Flounder until I forcefully jumped into their net and they had no choice but to bring me in. Aoi, you  _will_  be the death of me.”  
  
Aoi seems to giggle a little at that, and Uruha caresses the side of his hips a little, smiling warmly as he looks to the raven.  
  
“Aoi, father and mother are really worried about you. Don’t you know how scared we were when you told us you were going to the human world and live as a…” Kai looked to Uruha with a disgusted look on his face for a moment. “No offence, but,  _human_. You want to live as a human?! Seriously!? These pathetic two-legs wouldn’t last a day in the underwater world!”  
  
Uruha narrowed his eyes at the fish. Aoi pouted.  
  
“Aoi, you know we’re not angry at you. We just want you to come home. Look, I know this spell can be broken.  _All_  you have to do, is jump back into the ocean. That’s it. You’ll get your tail back, and goddamn Aoi, we all know it’s the most beautiful tail in the ocean, you know it’s your main pride and envy,  _even_  your mother’s couldn’t beat yours. How could you have sacrificed that for… mere  _two-legs_?”  
  
The raven numbly looked down to his thighs, his lips curving into a frown.  
  
“Wait, what spell?” Uruha asks, surprised, and he watches as Kai turns to him irritably.  
  
“Aoi made a deal with the sea witch. He traded his beautiful singing voice for…  _legs_.” Kai jumped around in his fish bowl in revulsion, as if the very thought repulsed him. “That’s why he can’t talk, you see? He gave up his voice for you! He gave up his tail, he gave up his family, he gave up his  _kingdom_. Aoi’s gone lunatic, and all for one man.”  
  
Uruha felt his stomach tie in a deadly knot. He should have known Aoi’s sudden muteness had to do with his transformation as a human. Why hadn’t he noticed earlier? Aoi hadn’t only sacrificed his status; he sacrificed his voice as well. And his singing had been so pretty…  
  
“Aoi, is that true?”  
  
The raven haired curled up to Uruha, pulling up his knees to himself. He nodded sadly.  
  
The blond’s heart broke. “Aoi…”  
  
“Stop wasting time, just give him back already!” Kai angrily glared at the prince. “You  _know_  Aoi can’t be here, Uruha, so stop deceiving each other that everything will be fine and that – ”  
  
“Kai.”  
  
“ – you can get married and have kids or whatever because that’s  _not_  happening! I’m never allowing our prince to marry a mere  _human_! Aoi’s worth so much more than that, and I can’t believe he’s allowed his voice and tail to be given up in exchange of – ”  
  
“Kai…”  
  
“–  _freaking_  two-legs! Aoi, think about it, what about your father and mother who have so painfully raised you up and gave you everything you wanted and – ”  
  
“Kai!” Uruha barks, silencing the fish in his rant. “If Aoi wants to stay with me, I’m not going to push him away, Kai. I’m not going to deny Aoi what he wants. I know he’s nineteen, and you think he’s just a child, but he  _is_  going to be an adult, isn’t he? I’m sure he understands the consequences of the choices he makes. Don’t you, Aoi?”  
  
Aoi glanced up tearfully to the blond. He nodded.  
  
“Aoi wants to stay with me, and I  _want_  to stay with him, and I can’t possibly let him go, not now, not when I’ve finally gotten him back, Kai. I can’t… just let him go. Do you understand me?” Uruha says, exasperated, his gaze boring into Kai’s eyes seriously. “I love Aoi. I know he has his responsibilities, but if he’s given it all up to come to the human world and be with me, then I’m going to respect that. Aoi knows what he’s doing. And if I ever hurt him, Kai, you have every of my permission to just drag Aoi away, back to the sea, where he really belongs. But for now, Aoi’s with me. And if you keep protecting him like this, and not allowing him to choose where he wants to be and what he wants to do, then he  _never_  will grow up, Kai. He’s nineteen, but he has ambitions and he has dreams and he has more drive than I’ve seen in any other nineteen year old. He’s beautiful, and he’s Aoi, and that’s why I’ve fallen in love with him, not for his scales, not for his beauty  _no_ , but for the way he jumps around in excitement every time and the way his eyes light up in happiness when he sees something new and his need and passion to keep exploring and… He’s believed in more things than I’ve ever had.  
  
He doesn’t need his scales or voice to be beautiful. His passion alone is enough. He struggled so much with walking on legs, and  _hell_ , you think Aoi wants to have legs? I’m betting Aoi hates them as much as you do, but he wants this so much, to be with me, to live in the human world, to do the things he’d always dreamt of doing – so much so that he’s willing to sacrifice everything, even his beautiful tail. He was crying, yesterday, when he couldn’t get his legs to work, but he didn’t give up and run back to the sea and get his tail,  _no,_ Aoi wanted to try again and again and today he was jumping on his feet  _already_. And you know what? If he doesn’t want to be confined to being what people want to be, then so be it. Can’t you just respect that about him, if you truly admire and love and worship this prince of yours? Because the person you admire is the one who’s willing to do anything for what they want, right?  _That’s_ the prince you know. And that’s the prince you have. And nothing’s going to change that. Right, Aoi?”  
  
Kai doesn’t exactly speak after that.  
  
Aoi’s so happy to hear Uruha’s words that he’s hugging the blond tightly and kissing him everywhere on his cheeks. Uruha laughs shortly, looking to the raven-haired fondly. Yeah, he would vow to make this work. He was going to love and cherish Aoi for life, and he wouldn’t ever let Aoi get hurt, after all Aoi’s been through to get here with him. Aoi deserved it all. Aoi deserved everything.  
  
“You better love and protect Aoi well, you dipshit. With that said, I’m staying until I trust you enough to leave Aoi alone with you. Can’t trust no two-legs taking care of my dear prince.” Kai grumbled unhappily to himself.  
  
Aoi went up and hugged the fish bowl gratefully, cradling it happily in his arms. Kai couldn’t help but smile.

~

Uruha decides to take Aoi out and show him around his land, since he knows how much Aoi would love and appreciate it, exploring the human land. It just so happens celebrations are still being thrown (even though Uruha’s made it back home safely for months now, the people were still immensely thankful for the survival of their young prince), and the country’s festivities were still going on, so Uruha had brought Aoi out with him, heading for the town center with only a couple of servants accompanying them. He declined the offer for a carriage, preferring to walk Aoi there instead, knowing Aoi would rather practice using his legs more than just relying on transportation all the time. And anyway, that was the beauty of being  _human_ ; Uruha realizes that now. Aoi’s almost dancing in his footsteps, hands clinging onto Uruha’s arm happily, strolling casually down the streets from the palace.  
  
Uruha had hoped to  _not_  attract as much attention as he’d wanted, but the moment his people lay eyes on him, everyone broke into wild chatter and hushed whispers and pointed excitedly to the young prince paying a visit to them. It was their first time seeing Aoi, too, and it didn’t take a genius to guess his relation with the prince. Uruha knows he hasn’t officially told his parents about his plans to wed Aoi yet, but heck, it didn’t hurt anyone if people saw him and Aoi out on the streets, right? Aoi’s too busy to realize everyone’s attention is on them, though. Once they reach the streets, there are stalls by the side of the road, and Aoi’s too busy fawning over each and every one of them, picking up every item and object he lays his eyes upon, gazing to it admirably and longingly. Uruha would have bought them for Aoi if he’d like, but at the rate that Aoi was stroking every object that he saw lovingly, Uruha would have to buy the  _whole_  street down, and that wouldn't make sense.  
  
Uruha spends most of his time following Aoi everywhere he goes, laughing silently to himself as he watches the raven point excitedly to every item he sees, asking Uruha to tell him what it is. The shopkeepers are too happy to oblige the naïve raven haired as well, and many a time they offer to give Aoi the gift for free (since their young prince seemed to enjoy seeing Aoi play with the item so much) but Uruha had refused, knowing he had more than enough to give Aoi what he wanted, and he wouldn’t ever accept free gifts from his people when he could afford it already. His people had sighed agreeably then, talking about how thoughtful the prince was, and how they were so proud of their royalty and that they wished Uruha good luck on his marriage. It had sent the blond blushing, his cheeks flaming, but Aoi was relatively oblivious to it, still bouncing everywhere and scrutinising at every single little thing.  
  
Uruha had rejected most gifts, but then Aoi came to one particular store, and he’d been awed by the pearl necklaces and the clam shelled earrings and the  _flower hairpins_   _oh my god these flowers could only be obtained by diving right down to the sea bed, Aoi would know!_  Aoi had eagerly described to Uruha about the rarity of these flowers, and the frantic manner in which Aoi gestured to how valuable and pretty these flowers were gave Uruha the idea to just buy them for Aoi, and if he wanted the blue or pink one to put in his hair because either would still look great on him? Aoi had happily pointed to the turquoise shade one, and Uruha had chuckled, nodding; he should have realized turquoise was Aoi’s favourite color, it was the shade of the tail he was born with, and the only thing that made him feel closer to home. When he was about to pay for the flower, however, the shopkeeper refused to accept any payment, the kind old grandma saying the hairpin belonged to Aoi and she would be privileged to gift it to him, anyway. Uruha hadn’t argued then; he thought the flower belonged to Aoi, too, for he was a creature of the sea, and the flowers were like things back from his homeland.  
  
Uruha swept Aoi’s bangs neatly to the side and pinned the turquoise colored flower against Aoi’s hair, complementing the shade of his raven black nicely and highlighting the misty gray color of his eyes. He gave a small kiss to the tip of Aoi’s nose, and after a brief moment in which they just basked in each other’s eyes and felt grateful for just being  _alive_  and  _there_  and  _in love_  and all the sweet things you could ever imagine; the festive music started to play, and Aoi pulled Uruha to dance, joining in the group of couples who were already dancing in the middle of the streets.  
  
It was only then did he realize every other couple had one of their significant other adorning a flower in the hair, too, and as Uruha twirled Aoi mindlessly around the dance floor, he’s smiling when he remembers that it’s their country’s tradition to gift their lover a flower in the hair, to express your undying love and promise to them. Aoi didn’t know, of course; and then Uruha’s attention is drawn back to him, chuckling again as Aoi spins around soundlessly, laughing as he dances along to the music. Aoi didn’t know how to dance their festive dances (or dance on two legs, period), but he looked like he was having the time of his life, nonetheless;  
  
_still_ , as the prince, Uruha had an image to uphold. The blond manages to convince Aoi to return to his arms, and then he coaxes Aoi to follow him in his footsteps, and he twirls Aoi at all the appropriate moments, and soon Aoi learns all their dances quickly and he’s being passed from one arm to another  _and_  then he spins and twirls and jumps and he’s so happy, he dizzily falls right into Uruha’s arms, laughing.  
  
They must have danced for at least two hours before Uruha decided to whisk Aoi away quietly to the shore; Aoi’s legs are completely limp by then, so Uruha decides to carry him in his arms, telling the servants they’ll only be gone for a short while before coming back. The servants are apprehensive, but they agree, since they know the lovebirds probably need some time alone to themselves anyway.  
  
Aoi’s still giggling wordlessly to Uruha’s chest, clutching and snuggling up to his neck. Uruha doesn’t let him go even as he sits them down onto the sand, watching the moon and the stars and just simply enjoying the dazzling night scenery from the shore here. Aoi plays with Uruha’s fingers, fitting them into each other’s spaces, again and again and all over again, and even though they don’t speak, the words of love hang over them in the air. When Uruha suddenly bends over and reaches for some dried seaweed lying on the sand, Aoi looks up to him in surprise, watching him curiously as Uruha brings them to Aoi’s lap and picks it up, twirling and twisting it carefully into a small… ring.  
  
He makes two rings, purely made of seaweed, and Aoi’s eyes are sparkling as Uruha reaches for the raven’s hand and delicately whispers,  _Will you marry me_?  
  
Aoi nods, eyes already reddening, and as Uruha slides a ring over his fourth finger, Aoi has never felt happier in his life. He does the same for Uruha, picking his hand up and sliding the ring on, and they end the night just rocking each other in their arms, until Aoi falls asleep and Uruha has to carry him home again.  
  
~  
  
It’s the third rejection in a row.  
  
Uruha’s parents have objected to their marriage the third time, even as Uruha had pleaded and begged over dinner, and threatened to marry Aoi himself if they didn’t allow him to. They refused, saying Aoi was  _one_ , non-royalty,  _two_ , a man, which meant no grandchildren for them,  _three_ , mute. He didn’t even have family they could answer to, and his mother was rambling on and on about how Uruha had taken this poor child off from the streets and was Aoi a witch and maybe that was how he had seduced their one and only prince into marrying him?  
  
Aoi had broken into tears upon hearing that, and he’d bowed his head low and excused himself from the dining table, hurrying back to Uruha’s room. Uruha had angrily refuted to his parents that Aoi was none of that and he was still marrying Aoi whether they liked it or not, and by the time Uruha had gotten back to his room, Aoi had fallen asleep sitting in front of Kai’s fish bowl, most probably having talked to him before he fell asleep. The seaweed ring is still intertwined around Aoi’s finger, and Uruha’s face falls, knowing how much Aoi valued the idea of being married to him.  
  
“You said you were going to make him happy,” Kai spits, enraged, and even Uruha has no heart to say otherwise.  
  
“I’m trying,” Uruha says quietly, and he picks Aoi up from the chair, bringing him to bed. “I’ll make my parents see the way I want them to, I promise.”  
  
Kai hesitates to speak, knowing he was threading a thin line here.  
  
“You’re breaking him.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“He’s come crying to me multiple times, Uruha. You don’t know how much it hurts to see my kingdom’s prince being so weak – I’ve never seen him so disillusioned before, as if he’s losing all hope, as if he doesn’t believe his own dreams will come true. You said it yourself – Aoi’s believed in more things than any one of us. But now, I feel like…  
  
I feel like Aoi doesn’t even believe in himself anymore.”  
  
Uruha blows out the candlelight, refusing to allow Kai to see the tears running down his face, and he climbs into bed next to the raven, holding him closely as he falls asleep.  
  
“Goodnight, Kai.”  
  
“… Goodnight, Uruha.”  
  
~  
  
By the fifth rejection, Aoi is no more.  
  
_It’s not going to work out!_  Aoi’s crying as he stomps back into the bedroom, rushing up to Kai and leaning over the fish bowl, holding it close to his chest as if he were hugging the fish itself. The other time, they’d called him a  _witch_ ; today, it’d been crack whore, money leecher, someone who only wanted Uruha’s money and position and nothing else. They’d totally missed the part where Aoi gave up his entire  _life_  for Uruha. Aoi gave up everything, and it still wasn’t enough.  
  
_I don’t know what to do. I can’t sit at the table and hear them say mean things about me anymore. I’m a prince! I can marry Uruha! I’m supposed to! Why can’t they see that? I’ll be Uruha’s betrothed! I’m perfect! This is how fairytales go! I’ll be Uruha’s happy ending!_  
  
“Aoi,  _Aoi_ , will you please listen to me?” Uruha’s voice is echoing down the hallways, and Aoi seems to frightfully curl back into a corner, hugging Kai’s fish bowl with him. Uruha stops at the entrance of his bedroom door, looking down to Aoi hiding by the side with a vexed expression on his face. “Aoi, you need to stop running off during dinnertime like that, okay? It really doesn’t help my case when I’m trying to get them to agree to me marrying you.”  
  
_Are you trying to say it’s my fault?_ Aoi’s sobbing harder, gripping the bowl so hard Kai swears he heard a crack, and he swims up comfortingly to the raven, reaching out a fin to gently caress the raven’s hand.  
  
“Aoi! I’m  _trying_! You’re not helping at all!” Uruha’s voice is yelling, raising his voice, and it frightens Aoi into bits, and Aoi shrinks back into the corner further.  
  
_I don’t know what I’m doing wrong_ , Aoi lowers his head, biting his lip with much self-hate.  _I gave everything up, and I can’t even be with you. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong…_  
  
“Aoi, for god’s sake, stop crying and hiding in a corner! Is this how my future Queen is supposed to act like? Don’t you know how pathetic you’re acting?”  
  
That  _did_  it. Kai’s angrily shaking his fist (fin) to Uruha, glaring up to him.  
  
“Don’t you dare speak to Aoi like that!”  
  
“Things are never going to work out if your dear  _princess_  isn’t going to work with me!”  
  
“It’s  _your_  job to make sure things work out! Aoi’s already done his part!”  
  
“Oh, is it  _my_  fault now?” Uruha’s eyes bore daggers. “You know what? I’m so done. Aoi, you can cry like a wimp for all I care.”  
  
And then he stalks off, the first time he ever does, and he slams the door shut, so loud that it drowns out Aoi’s crying. Aoi’s heart breaks the hardest it’s ever been, and Kai watches his prince dissolve into pieces that can never be patched back.  
  
“Aoi, sweetie… I think it’s time to go home.”  
  
~  
  
That night, Uruha returns to an empty room, an empty bowl.  
  
The seaweed rings are still there, but the flower isn’t.  
  
~  
  
Uruha spends every night regretting. He regrets pushing Aoi away, he regrets not fulfilling his promise of loving and cherishing Aoi forever. He regrets so many things, and the list is endless, but it’s too late. Aoi’s gone, and Uruha knows he had his chance when he was here, but now he’s returned back to the sea. He’d thought he would have a future with the raven, but things didn’t work out in their favor. And it’s funny, because the months that follow are so depressing that he’s cooped himself up in his room, staring to the seaweed rings dazed, and his parents have gotten so worried about his mental state that they’ve reluctantly given their  _yes_  to the unlawful marriage their son wanted, but only if Uruha returned to normal and promised to be a good ruler in time. Uruha had wanted to yell at them that it was too late for that, that he’s lost the very person he’s wanted to marry and he might never get him back, and he wanted so very much to blame it on his parents but he knows it’s all his fault. Uruha had allowed Aoi to slip through his fingers. Uruha had broken his promise. Uruha had broken his heart.  
  
He waits for news of more raven-haired persons near the sea, but there are none. It doesn’t stop him from appointing servants to keep a lookout constantly, though. Even if Aoi didn’t want to wed him anymore, Uruha wanted to go up to him and apologise. He wanted to apologise for his inadequacies and his wrongdoings and all the things he should have done but he didn’t do. He would take any beating the raven would give to him, and then Uruha would feel better then. And maybe Uruha could finally move on with his life (though he still doubt he would ever wed) and stop feeling this hollow feeling in the pit of his heart.  
  
~  
  
Uruha misses him. It gets worse and worse, and soon Uruha stops eating. His parents fear for his well-being and they’re too busy searching for more raven haired princesses, hoping one of them will suit his tastes. There are none.  
  
~  
  
Uruha grows sickly. He doesn’t leave his palace anymore, and all he does is sit by the window of the palace, watching the sea from here. He waits for a tail, or even a fin to appear, but the sea is always unnaturally calm, and Uruha spends his days reading about books on mermaids and ways to summon them again. They’re all works of fiction, though, and Uruha knows more about the truth about mermaids than these books will ever do.  
  
Uruha’s afternoon naps grow frequent. He lays by the window, breathing in the salty sea breeze, and he can almost hear Aoi’s voice singing to him just like before.  
  
_What would I pay to stay here beside you? What would I do to see you smiling at me?_  
  
He remembers seeing Aoi for the first time. Beautiful raven hair and enchanting gray eyes. He’d never forget that face; he’d never forget that bewitching turquoise shade of a tail. He’d never forget the way Aoi seemed to burst into spontaneous rambles and blushed at every single thing. The way he always curled up to Uruha as if he needed the blond’s protection. As if he loved the human’s touch, and wanted the human’s arms around him the whole time.  
  
Uruha wouldn’t forget him.  
  
_Watch and you’ll see, some day I’ll be… part of your world… Uruha._  
  
_…Uruha?_  
  
Uruha can barely breathe.  
  
He snaps his eyes open, hearing the melodious singing voice morph into soft calls for him, and Uruha thinks he must be dreaming. Because it was just his imagination, wasn’t it? It hadn’t been real singing all these while,  _right_? Uruha was just recalling the very first time Aoi had sung to him. Uruha wasn’t really hearing it for real –  
  
“Uruha?”  
  
Uruha’s shaking. He turns his head to the window, and he sees the waves crashing up to the shore just like before, and he sees the glimpse of a turquoise tail gleaming in the sun, flipping its way up against a rock, the figure seating itself nicely down with long raven hair… raven… Uruha’s heart trepidates so fast in his chest he can hardly breathe. He rests his gaze upon the familiar mermaid he’d always known, and he almost falls off the ledge he’s sitting by just to run over and bring Aoi into a hug. Aoi looks as beautiful as ever, his raven hair tossed back, his gray eyes framed with long lashes blinking rapidly to Uruha, his precious scales glistening magnificently under the sun. The turquoise colored flower is still pinned up neatly in his hair, and Uruha wonders how long he has had it on him, and he’s secretly so glad, because it must mean that Aoi has been thinking of him, right? Aoi has been keeping Uruha by his side the whole time. Aoi must have missed him, right? Aoi must still love him.  
  
“I’m so sorry,” Uruha has to hold back his tears as he gazes to the mermaid before him, but Aoi just smiles a small, sad smile and shakes his head, beckoning for Uruha to come down to him.  
  
The blond prince jumps down from the window’s ledge and makes his way weakly to the raven mermaid, wondering if Aoi was going to abruptly swim away and give him the loneliness he deserves once more, but Aoi doesn’t. Aoi waits, and when Uruha’s close enough to the rock by the shore, Aoi curls up to him once more and wraps his arms around Uruha’s neck. The blond prince begins to sob softly, uncontrollably, into the raven’s wet hair, and it makes Aoi want to cry as well, but Aoi has to keep up his smile, and he pulls apart, kissing the tip of Uruha’s hair just like Uruha has always done for him.  
  
“It wasn’t your fault,” Aoi placates, though Uruha knows otherwise. “Uruha, I – ”  
  
“Please forgive me, I’ll accept whatever you do to me.” Uruha chokes out, and Aoi’s heart swells, melting at the blond’s readiness to apologise. “I did you so much wrong, Aoi, I promise it won’t happen again. But you… you don’t want to be with me anymore, do you?”  
  
“I…” Aoi’s smile grows calmer. “I’ve been busy learning the ropes of how to run my kingdom in the past few months, ‘ruha. My parents… My parents they want me to take over, soon.”  
  
Uruha sucks in a breath, feeling his heart drop. “Oh, I see.”  
  
“They said if I listened to them and stopped running off doing reckless things and risked getting eaten by sharks, humans, or  _worse_ , getting my heart broken,” Aoi laughed to himself. “They said if I learnt the ropes to taking over the kingdom, Uru… They would give me legs again.”  
  
The realization is deafening. “So… that means – ”  
  
“I have this potion, you see?” Aoi’s eyes light up, pointing to the small bottle of liquid hanging from his neck that Uruha hadn’t noticed the first time. “It allows me to change my tail into legs anytime I want. And vice versa… This time, I get to keep my voice, too.”  
  
Uruha’s on the verge of tears. “Oh, Aoi…”  
  
“I got one bottle for you too,” Aoi says softly, hands palming out to present the blond a similar bottle of liquid. “I mean… just in case you wanted to learn how to swim with a tail… or something like that. I could show you around my kingdom sometime, too.”  
  
Uruha’s speechless; he nods, whispering  _definitely_ , and he accepts the bottle into his hands with much gratitude, resisting the urge to pull Aoi into a kiss just yet.  
  
“We can get married now, right?” Aoi’s voice lowers, his eyes looking unsurely up to the blond. “I… I’m a prince, now, and I can tell your parents that, and if they want, I can tell them about mermaids, but my father told me it has to be kept confidential, because if everyone knows, people will hunt us down.”  
  
“We don’t need to worry about that,” Uruha’s eyes are brimming with tears. “They’ve said  _yes_  long ago.”  
  
Aoi’s lips spread into a smile. “Uruha, I – ”  
  
“I love you,” Uruha breathes, and Aoi knows he means it, because he can see it in his eyes, and the way his breath hitches back a sob.  
  
“I love you too,” Aoi answers, and he shuts his eyes as the blond kisses him fervently then, promising to never let him go from then on.  
  
Kai watches silently from the side with a smile, wiping an escaping tear from the corner of his eye.  
  
~  
  
Uruha finds out his tail is reddish orange, a color that was a starking contrast from Aoi’s calming turquoise. Aoi says that their tail colors reflect their personalities though, and Uruha’s tail meant he was brave, courageous, and very much hotheaded. Uruha’s inclined to agree.  
  
~  
  
(Reita ends up meeting one of Aoi’s royal mermaid advisors and happens to fancy a particular mermaid’s ass. His name is Ruki.)  
  
~  
  
Uruha finally hears Aoi moaning out his name as he writhes under him in bed.  
  
And Uruha likes it. He likes it a lot.


End file.
